Stumbled on paint thickness numbers that blew my mind

I was looking up how to fix a bad blend job on a 2018 Honda Accord last night and found a report from a paint testing place. They said the factory clear coat on Japanese cars is usually only 1.5 mils thick on average. That's basically nothing! I've been sanding way more aggressive than I should have on some of these jobs. Has anyone else measured factory paint and been surprised how thin it actually is?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_campbell2521d ago

Yeah that 1.5 mil stuff is scary, I bought a gauge after wrecking a hood on a Mazda.

val_williams21d ago

Wait, 1.5 mils is considered normal on those?

janarivera21d ago

Yeah that 1.5 mil thing is real. I've burned through factory clear on a Subaru before because I was using 1500 grit like I was trying to smooth out a whole repaint. Turns out they put that stuff on so thin you can barely breathe on it wrong. Now I always grab a cheap paint thickness gauge off Amazon before I touch a modern Japanese car. Saves a lot of headaches.